By Aijaz Alam
How much do US advertisers spend on social media and creators?
US social media advertising brought in $117.7 billion in 2025, up 32.6% from $88.8 billion in 2024, according to the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report (April 2026). That is 40.0% of all US internet ad revenue. Brands also spent about $37 billion on creator advertising, which IAB projects will reach $44 billion in 2026.
- $117.7BUS social media ad revenueIAB/PwC, 2025, up 32.6%
- 40.0%Social's share of US internet ad revenueIAB/PwC, 2025; formats overlap
- $37BUS creator advertising spendIAB, 2025; $44B projected for 2026
- 74%Creator ad buyers who call social media a must-buyIAB creator report, 453 buyers, Jul-Aug 2025
- 37.4%Marketers planning to raise paid social spendHubSpot, 2026, vendor survey
The numbers
The full breakdown
Social media against other US ad formats, 2024 and 2025
| Format | 2024 | 2025 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social media | $88.8B | $117.7B | +32.6% |
| Search | $102.9B | $114.2B | +11% |
| Display | $74.3B | $81.6B | +9.8% |
| Digital video | $62.1B | $78B | +25.4% |
Formats overlap: social video counts in both social media and digital video. IAB still says search holds the largest share of revenue dollars.
US creator economy ad spend by year
| Year | Creator ad spend | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $13.9B | Not reported |
| 2022 | $18.4B | +32% |
| 2023 | $22.1B | +20% |
| 2024 | $29.5B | +34% |
| 2025 (estimate) | $37.1B | +26% |
| 2026 (projection) | $43.9B | +18% |
IAB Creator Economy Ad Spend and Strategy Report (November 2025), estimates by Advertiser Perceptions. Counts brand spend on direct creator partnerships, paid amplification of that content, and ads placed next to creators on purpose, on any channel. IAB's April 2026 revenue report rounds 2025 to $37B and 2026 to $44B. IAB put 2025 growth at about four times the 5.7% of the media industry overall.
US creator ad spend by advertiser category, 2025 estimate
| Category | 2025 spend | Growth from 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | $12.3B | +38% |
| Consumer packaged goods | $5.5B | +24% |
| Financial | $2.2B | +31% |
| Apparel | $2.1B | +14% |
| Tech | $1.9B | +26% |
| Auto | $1.6B | +11% |
| Telecom | $1.5B | +19% |
| Travel | $1.3B | +31% |
| Home | $1.2B | +16% |
| Health and wellness | $1.0B | +40% |
| Media and entertainment | $0.4B | +39% |
Advertiser Perceptions estimates for IAB. CPG includes beauty and personal care.
Media that creator ad buyers call a must-buy, 2025
| Media type | Share of buyers |
|---|---|
| Social media | 74% |
| Paid search | 60% |
| Creators | 48% |
453 US ad buyers involved in creator marketing, surveyed 28 July to 12 August 2025. Must-buy means necessary for the media plan.
Over time
US social media ad revenue, every year since 2019
| Year | Revenue | Change from prior year | Share of US internet ad revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $35.6B | Not read | 28.6% |
| 2020 | $41.5B | about +17% | 29.7% |
| 2021 | $57.7B | about +39% | 30.5% |
| 2022 | $59.8B | about +4% | 28.5% |
| 2023 | $64.9B | +8.7% | 28.8% |
| 2024 | $88.8B | +36.7% | 34.3% |
| 2025 | $117.7B | +32.6% | 40.0% |
2019, 2020 and 2022 are the sums of IAB's first-half and second-half figures; other years are the full-year totals IAB states. Growth for 2020 to 2022 and all shares are our calculations from IAB totals, so they are approximate. Shares use the total internet ad revenue for each year as restated in later reports.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| $117.7B | 2025 | IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report | Ad revenue that US sellers of social ads report to PwC; social video also counts in digital video |
| $37.1B | 2025 estimate | IAB Creator Economy Ad Spend report (Advertiser Perceptions) | Brand spend on creators on any channel, including paid boosts on social, so it partly overlaps the $117.7B |
| 40.0% | 2025 | IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report | Social's share of all US internet ad revenue; format shares add up to more than 100% |
| 37.4% | 2026 | HubSpot State of Marketing | Share of marketers who plan to raise paid social spend, not a dollar amount |
The figure you see for social media ad spending depends on who is counted and what counts as social. IAB/PwC adds up revenue that the companies selling ads report, so its $117.7 billion is money social platforms earned from ads shown in the US. It is not audited, and it overlaps other formats: a video ad on a social app counts in both social media and digital video. The creator figure measures something else. Advertiser Perceptions estimated, for IAB, what brands spend on creators: fees for sponsored posts, paid boosts of those posts and ads placed next to creators. Part of that money is also social ad revenue, so the $37 billion and the $117.7 billion cannot be added. Global totals from forecasters are larger again because they cover every country. Survey shares such as HubSpot's 37.4% measure plans, not spending.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Social media is now about as big as search in US advertising. It brought in $117.7 billion in 2025, against $114.2 billion for search, and it has grown more than 30% two years running. Five years earlier it was $41.5 billion, so the total has nearly tripled since 2020.
Much of the new money follows creators. Brands spent about $37 billion on creator advertising in 2025, more than double the 2021 level, and retailers alone put in an estimated $12.3 billion. Among ad buyers who work with creators, 74% call social media a must-buy and 48% say the same of creators themselves.
For a small business, this means competition in social feeds is rising fast, so costs there may rise too. Test small budgets and compare the cost of each lead with search before moving money. For marketers and journalists, quote $117.7 billion as US social media ad revenue for 2025 from IAB/PwC, and never add creator spend on top of it.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB): Internet Advertising Revenue Report, full year 2025, compiled by PwC; Creator Economy Ad Spend and Strategy Report 2025, estimates by Advertiser Perceptions
- Sample
- Revenue report: US only, revenue reported to PwC by companies that sell ads online, plus public company data, not audited. Creator report: estimates from company financials plus a survey of 453 US ad buyers, 28 July to 12 August 2025.
- Definition
- Social media ads are ads that reach targeted audiences through social media platforms, messaging apps and social media news feeds. Creator ad spend is brand spend on creator partnerships, paid amplification and planned ad adjacencies.
- Released
- Revenue report 16 April 2026; creator report 20 November 2025
- Checked at source
- 31 October 2026, in the IAB report PDFs for 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and on iab.com; HubSpot figure on blog.hubspot.com
- Next release
- Full-year 2026 revenue report, expected April 2027
- Last changed
- 31 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report; IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Industry body
- HubSpot State of Marketing 2026, HubSpot Vendor data
Change log
- 16 Apr 2026$117.7B FY2025 report: $117.7 billion in 2025, up 32.6%.
- 17 Apr 2025$88.8B FY2024 report: $88.8 billion in 2024, up 36.7%.
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Which social platform gets the most ad money in the US?
IAB/PwC does not split social revenue by platform or company, so there is no official US figure per platform. It reports only the $117.7 billion total for 2025.
Can I add creator spend to social media ad revenue?
No. The $37 billion creator figure includes paid boosts of creator posts on social platforms, which also count as social ad revenue. The two numbers overlap.
Which industries spend the most on creators?
Retail, at an estimated $12.3 billion in 2025, then consumer packaged goods at $5.5 billion. Every other category was about $2.2 billion or less (IAB, Advertiser Perceptions estimates).
Did social media ad growth slow down?
Yes, then it sped up again. Growth fell to about 4% in 2022 and 8.7% in 2023, then jumped to 36.7% in 2024 and 32.6% in 2025.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), HubSpot). Free to cite with a link to this page.